


Rewritten Holiday

by UnrealRomance



Series: Connected Dimensions [7]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: All my readers, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Friendship, Holidays, I love you guys, Romance, You all rock, gift-giving, rewritten
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-11 22:35:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9037673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnrealRomance/pseuds/UnrealRomance
Summary: Okay so I was feeling emotional and Nik really REALLY wanted to do something for December holidays, so here we are. completely separate from all my other Rewritten stuff, basically another AU but I couldn't NOT write it and post it.Nik gets a bunch of presents together for everyone and gives them out.





	

"So this is a holiday where you come from?" Zevran is plucking at the small box in his lap. "I do not see the difference from every other day." He shoots me a wry grin. "You lavish us with gifts quite regularly, my dear Inquisitor."

I huff and roll my eyes. "I do _not_. I give you things you need for everyday life, or for your job. Nothing superfluous and fun." And now I grin and bounce on my toes. "I got you something I thought you'd like, but…ah." I falter. "I'm not really sure. You didn't seem…well, it all has to do with what I know of you and I…extrapolated."

He lifts a blonde brow at me and tugs at the ribbon around the box. "Now I am curious." It comes undone and my heart hammers against my ribs as he pulls the top off and blinks at the large book inside.

"It's from the first batch." I tell him. "It has special additions in the back that I had translated into Antiv-"

I'm suddenly being hugged very tightly and the strong arms wrapped around me are shivering. "Thank you."

I wrap my own arms around his waist and squeeze him tightly, remembering how he called me _amora_ when I romanced him. How he discovered his own self-worth and capacity for love…

I laugh with tears in my eyes. "So you like it?"

I know he always wanted to know more about his Dalish mother. What her life might've been like, what she might have done or thought or even _eaten_ in her clan. So when I finally got the first batch of Elvhen language dictionaries finished, I had someone translate the recipes I had from multiple Dalish clans around Antiva…and then I had them re-bind the book with the recipes in the back.

He pulls back, laughing with glittering eyes of his own. "It seems you always know just the thing I want."

I grin. "The recipes in the back are easy to make, but if you want- I can show you how."

A chuckle and he kisses my forehead. "I will look forward to it, _Preciosa_."

…

Fenris looks blankly down at the small ribbon-wrapped box in his hands. "What…is this for?"

I sigh in exasperation. "Fenris, it's not… _for_ anything. Where I come from, this is a holiday. Or well, as close to the holiday as I can guess." I roll my eyes. "Your calendar is different, so I've got a rough guess between today, tomorrow and two days after tomorrow."

He chuckles nervously. "And this holiday…you give people things?"

"Yeah, but I give you stuff all the time." I remind him with a little grin. "This is something just for fun, for sentimentality. Something you won't need to survive but might like to keep with you."

"I…am not usually one for sentimentality." He says, face and ears flushing. "But thank you."

"Well, open it!" I grin. "I promise if you hate it, it won't offend me. I was kind of at a loss for what to get you so I had to cobble something together."

He lifts a dark brow and tugs at the ribbon on the box, slowly lifting the lid and dropping it after he sees what's inside. His eyes are wide and I think maybe I made a huge mistake or something.

But then his head lifts and his eyes are locking with mine. "This is…how?"

"I saw her face, in the Fade. Do you…?" He must remember, right?

His jaw ticks and I realize suddenly that he's trying not to let tears escape his eyes. I'm going to keep making these men almost cry, aren't I? "I…sorry, Fenris I just thought-"

"Thank you." He says, low and quiet, as he clutches the box to his chest. "I…I need…" He turns on his heel and speed-walks out of my office.

I went looking for memories of Leto in the Fade and found his mother's face. So I drew her, and Solas helped with the painting part. It looked almost like a snapshot but for some brushstrokes.

I'm going to assume he likes it, then.

…

"Wot?" Sera wrinkles her nose at the box I hold out to her. "Wuzzat for?" She's already started drinking with Bull and it shows in her slurring.

I grin at her. "Where I'm from, this is a gift-giving holiday. I've got something for both of you." She gets the one that's long, unwieldy and topped with the plaideweave ribbon, and I give Bull the one that's got a ribbon of deep purple-y, blue silk.

Bull chuckles and takes the box from me, immediately tugging at the ribbon. "Free stuff, Sera."

Sera's eyes light up and she snatches the box from me, yanking the ribbon off and opening it up. She grins openly and pulls the personalized Bow out of the box. "An Andraste bow!"

It is in fact a bow that's been carved with a likeness of Andraste and several enchantments worked into the wood body and metal grip. "I thought you'd like to have her close to you at all times and since you're usually never without your bow…" I trail off, grinning at the way she gently traces the details of the carving.

Bull guffaws loudly. "Seriously?"

I grin wider when he pulls out the metal caps for his horns and settles them into place at the tips. "You can even put in some of those little coin-shaped enchantment attachments I came up with for the mage's weapons and armor. In case you get in deep and you're out of options."

He smacks me in the back. "Alright!"

Ow.

Glad he's happy. But _ow_.

…

"These are…" Cassandra flushes faintly at the sight of the face paints in the little wooden container.

"Make-up. I made them special for you." I point out the colors I picked for her complexion. "These should bring out your eyes and make them _pop_!" I grin.

I grunt when she puts them aside and crushes me tight in a bear-hug. She releases me with an apology that I wave off while gasping for air. "Thank you, I…I'm going to get Leliana to put some on me!" She says and rushes off with the paints.

I chuckle and rub my midsection. "I guess broken ribs are Cassandra's way of saying 'I love you'."

Love you too, Cassie.

…

"It's _breathtaking_ , my dear." Vivienne spins in the grand dress I made for her. Shades of yellow and white, gauzy material wreathed about her shoulders and waist that catch the wind and flutter like gossamer wings. "Whatever holiday this is, I think I like it." She smiles prettily at me from her window.

The sun makes her resplendent and sets her dress to glowing. The matching Hennin glints as the light hits it, too.

"Me too!" I grin, knowing my eyes are shining. I love lavishing them all in gifts just for fun. I'll have to do it more often.

"Whatever am I going to wear this to?" She asks herself. "A salon is simply too common for something so extravagant…or perhaps I should simply walk down the streets of Val Royeax!" She laughs, loud and pretty and _real_.

…

"What's this?" Blackwall cracks open the box and grins when he sees what's inside. "Wood oils!"

"And carving tools. For the smaller statuettes you likes to make." I smile and tap the box. "Under the oils. There's also some polishing cloths and wood paints."

"Thank you, Herald." He pulls me into a one-armed man-hug and squeezes me tight. "My own personal stock!"

…

Cullen, Josephine and Leliana all take their boxes with some amusement. Apparently my homeland holiday is cute.

Cullen tilts his head at the contents of his box and flushes when I give him a questioning look. "I ah…don't know what…"

I laugh and reach into the box to remove the first pile of blue painted, wrapped-together coins. "Where I come from, there are people who use these to kick habits. I thought it'd be nice for the other Templars to have a physical thing they can hold onto." I hold up the coins so he can see the one printed on them. "This is for one month."

I reach in and pick out the next. "This is for three, the next is for six, then for nine and then for a full year. Then there are ones for years two and three with those same months." I put them back in the box and tentatively glance at Cullen.

He looks so wistful as he plucks at the ribbon from the box. "These would have helped me when I first began. It's a thoughtful gesture."

I laugh and reach in, grabbing a red coin at the bottom. The rest are all blue, but red is just…Cullen's color. Can't explain it. "This is for you, for you to hold and remember why you do this." It's a simple coin, really. Made of wood, painted red, carved words reading: **For Them**.

He looks at the coin and then at me with warm eyes. "For them?"

"I figured it'd be more effective to remind you about the people counting on you, instead of making it about freedom or independence." I smile a little lopsidedly. "We have a lot in common, there."

He smiles back and reaches over to pull me into his side, hugging me tightly and pressing a kiss to my hair. "Thank you."

Leliana and Josephine held off looking in their own boxes, and Josie gives Leliana a glance. Leli nods and Josephine goes after her own, while Leliana watches with sparkling eyes.

Josephine gasps and pulls the small model ship in the bottle out of the box. "This looks just like the naval vessels my family used to…" She smiles and there are tears glistening in her eyes, but she doesn't even know the rest yet. It's not the one in-game with the old crest and family saying on it- but I found that one, and this one is modeled after it, with some improvements that've been made to ships since then. "Thank you-"

"That's not all, Josie." I grin, feeling tears behind my own eyes. I gesture at the bottle. "Look at the plaque."

She glances down and reads aloud. "A model of the ships the Herald of Andraste had commiss…" She begins to breathe a little fast. "…had commissioned for her advisor and close friend, Josephine Montilyet." She's openly crying by the end. "You didn't!" She exclaims, looking up at me. I'm sure she saw the crest and family saying on the ship itself, too.

I point to the box as tears begin spilling over both of our faces. There are ship documents, to each and every one of the twenty vessels I had built with my own gold- I had to save up for a while and do some extra artworks for really rich assholes, but it was worth it.

The way she holds the documents to her chest and sobs as I gather her into my arms and squeeze her tight, really warms my heart. "You are the most invaluable treasure in Thedas, Josephine. You are the only reason the Inquisition is worth anything. Your family is blessed to have you, and now they'll know how much."

She clutches at me with her free hand, crying into my shoulder. I know she'd been worrying about getting the funds to get her family's new fleet made, about the quality of them and how she'd need to buy old ships and refurbish them if she wanted to save enough money to actually launch them and start their business anew.

"Leliana helped me look up all the information about your family to do the documents and design the ships." I pull back to tell her, laughing at the smudged make-up around her eyes that I'm sure is mirrored on my own face.

She turns and launches around the edge of the war table to embrace Leliana, who is crying a little herself.

Cullen looks a bit uncomfortable with all the tears, but his eyes are suspiciously red and puffy.

Josephine pulls back, putting her new ship documents and model into the box, before loving closing the top. "Leliana, open yours!"

Leliana laughs a little wetly and pulls the lid off the box. Her face contorts as she tries not to cry harder. "Andraste's grace perfume?" She lifts her head and Josephine moves so she can walk around the table to grasp and hold me, whispering thank you into my hair.

I laugh a little and squeeze her back, around her waist. "S'not all, though." That's obvious, but a little nudge can't hurt.

She keeps one arm around me and reaches across to drag the box to her over the table. "Scented candles!" She squeals. "Did you do this yourself!?"

She asks because they're carved. The sweet orange scented candle into the shape of a Nug, The lavender into a Crow and the Andraste's Grace candle is shaped like Andraste, of course. "Yes, I made them and sculpted them…it was a process." I admit. It took me forever to get it all perfect.

"Antivan Plum Brandy…" She whispers and caresses the bottle in one corner of the box. "I won't ask how you know."

She pulls everything out of the box at my look and smile- finding something underneath. Her gasp is so gratifying.

Lifting the two pairs of shoes out of the box, she marvels at them. "The…sneakers you told me about?" One of them is the closest I could get to sneakers- but I made sure they wouldn't squeak and they're flat black. For sneaking.

"Yeah. They're tooled with designs that you can loop pretty ribbons through if you want, but otherwise it'd be for stealth and comfort." I beam and gesture to the other pair. "And these are Wedges!"

I watch as she examines the brightly colored shoes that have swords of mercy tooled and painted into the fronts of them and Chantry symbols on the sides. They're purple with accents of lighter and darker blues in the most beautiful swirls and flowers I could do.

She hugs me again, laughing. "They are the most beautiful shoes I've ever seen!"

…

Varric nudges Cole into opening the box, "no kid, the present's _inside_." He's low-key chuckling.

Cole says a soft 'oh' and opens the box. There's a new hat in it, made with durable materials and the leather parts are painted in tones of green and gold. The metal cap is carved with frolicking nugs and other woodland creatures. "It's fun!" He exclaims a bit, smiling the widest I've ever seen. "The children will like it!"

He's been so sad that sometimes people think he looks 'creepy' or 'scary'.

I grin and tap the box. "Under, is…"

He gasps, "Matching armor!"

"Just for going around Skyhold, it's much less efficient than your battle armor." It's still really good, but I'd rather he keep his armor that I made to protect him special in the field for fighting. The armor isn't really armor, in fact- but just very beautifully dyed and tooled leather. It works as armor, but it's more to make him look interesting and bright.

He looks at me with that smile and reaches out his arms. "I want…can I hug you?"

I beam and lean across, above the hat and box to wrap my arms around him. He hugs me tightly and I kiss his cheek as I pull away. "I know it bothers you that people aren't immediately drawn to you, so I figured this would fix that."

He nods eagerly and removes his hat, replacing it with the new one. It makes his eyes pop in a very nice way. "I look good!" He says, smile becoming warm. "I can't always hear, but sometimes I still _feel_ …"

"I'm so glad you like it." I pat his arm.

"Lookin' sharp, kid." Varric chuckles and plucks at the ribbon around his own box. "Let's just see what this is…"

He looks inside and immediately gapes at me.

I grin and nod my head. "All those stories from my world that I said I loved from my childhood- I realized you liked the ones about the little mermaid and Beauty and the Beast the most- so I wrote my own versions for you!" Without any stockholm syndrome involved and the mermaid falling in love with Prince Eric over time as opposed to just saving his life once and becoming enamored.

"The romances?" He questions with an amused glint in his eye.

"I figured if you want to write your own versions, you can." I gesture to the box. "I know you've been feeling burned out, so I thought this might help."

He shakes his head, chuckling and reaching over to grasp my hand and squeeze it tight. "You always know just what I need, Schemer."

…

Dorian is in his nook when I go looking for him, carrying a large box and panting when I set it before him.

"What is this?" He asks, lifting a brow at me. "For me?"

"I wanted to give you something but I wasn't sure what, so I had to start thinking really hard about it." I tell him. "Today is a holiday where I'm from- or well it's in the range." Grinning and bouncing, I gesture to the box. "Open, open!"

"Alright, alright!" He laughs and pulls the end of the ribbon so he can pull off the top. "A chess set!"

"It's specially made. I worked with Blackwall on it for a _while_." I tell him. "Krem gave me tips cause I wanted some Tevinter on there, but I also wanted…well, look at the pieces and the board." I grin. It's one of those table sets, so it's heavy as fuck.

' _Damn, did I pull something?_ '

He examines the board, first. "Andrastian symbols, Old god symbols, but the board itself resembles…" He looks up and gasps. "Is this supposed to be the Fade?"

"Yeah and look." I gesture at the center of the board. "The breach, so you'll always remember what you helped to do." I pull out the pieces. "Some of these are spirits. Fashioned after Fortitude, Desire- whatever Krem and Blackwall thought fit the pieces. But most of them are…well, us." There's more than one set of pieces, after all.

I pick up a small figure that's meant to look like Dorian. It's lovingly crafted by my own hands and detailed by Blackwall. I painted it, too. It looks like Dorian in some very fine robes with a kickass staff.

He makes a sound of delight and plucks it from my hand. "I'm a chess piece!"

"And here's Vivienne and Josephine and Solas and Varric…" I show him all the pieces that look like our friends with symbols and weapons in their hands that make it obvious what role they're playing in the game. "Everyone's here and…" I purse my lips to keep the tears in. "I know you're going to Tevinter when this is all over, so I wanted you to have something of each of us to remember and this seemed like the best way."

He looks at me, obviously at a loss for something to say, but with such warmth in his eyes. "I…this is too much! However did you…"

"And there's special tea blends in the bottom that don't contain Stripweed." I tell him and giggle.

He laughs and his eyes sparkle as he stands and pulls me in for a hug over the box. "I will treasure this, _Amicus_."

I squeeze him extra hard and feel the dam breaking. "God, I'm gonna miss you!"

"Don't cry, or I will!" He pulls back, dangerously wet eyes himself. "I'll never forgive you if you make me cry and smudge my eye-paints!"

And that's when we both burst into tears and hug again, clinging tightly to each other.

…

"I hear you've been giving out gifts all day." Solas and I are curled up in bed. "Cole was deliriously happy playing with the children this afternoon."

"I'm so glad he likes his new outfit." I yawn and lie my head on his chest, listening to his heart. "I want to give you yours, but you have to sleep first."

"A gift in the Fade? I'm intrigued." He smiles down at me and strokes my hair.

It doesn't take long to fall deeply asleep.

….…..

By the time he joins me, I've set the scene. I'm nervous and fidgety, but I'm pretty sure he's going to like this.

He strolls into the ballroom and pauses when the Fade around him shapes his clothes into something more flowing and fine. More like his Halamshiral outfit but…well, with more Elvhen elements from some memories I've seen. " _ **Sa'lath**_ _?_ " He walks over to me, eyes caught on my own outfit. " **I did not think you enjoyed wearing dresses.** "

" **I don't, but this is a dream.** " I grin. " **I can be as comfortable as I want in a dream.** "

It's something light and flowy, from a memory I saw as well. Something he showed me, in fact. " **It is beautiful.** " He says, grasping my hips and pulling me close, eyes warm on mine. " _ **You**_ **are beautiful.** "

I grin. " **Wait for it…** "

He tilts his head, amusement dancing in his eyes. " **What are you planning,** _ **ma'sal'shiral?**_ "

I pout and flush at the same time. " **You are** _ **evil**_ **.** " He knows what calling me his soul's journey does to me. I'm just glad he didn't say-

" **You have always known how wicked I am, Vhenan.** " He whispers and presses his lips to my cheek. " **Dancing?** "

I turn my head and catch his mouth with mine, pulling back after a moment and assuming the waltz position. Lacing our fingers together and putting my other hand on his shoulder. His grip on my waist shifts to the middle of my back.

His eyes widen the music starts to play. " **This…I have not heard this song since…** "

" **They're going to play songs for you, and for me.** " I smile and sweep close enough that our foreheads touch. " **I thought this would be…I wanted to share it with you. I know you can't go to Elvhen balls anymore, but…** " I grin. " **We** _ **do**_ **happen to have some Elvhen around to attend.** "

His eyes widen and he turns his head to see the ballroom being filled up with Sentinels in dress uniforms and the equivalent of Elvhen ball gowns. He turns his head to look back at me, eyes a little wide. " **How did you convince them…?** "

" **They miss it too.** " I whisper and smile sadly. " **You can share this together. Even if Arlathan is gone…it'll never really be** _ **gone**_ **gone- because you all remember it.** "

He kisses me then, and the feelings of gratitude, love and pure admiration he projects at me make me blush- but I don't pull away. I just mirror him with my own emotional climate and the shudder of his body under my hand on his shoulder makes my heart clench.

"I love you," he pulls back and whispers while pressing kisses to my temple and hair.

" _Ar lath ma, Vhenan'ara._ " I respond in kind.

**Author's Note:**

> I cried at parts of this damn thing.
> 
> I wrote this in like a couple hours, so I apologize for any errors, I'll get to them later.
> 
> Happy holidays, merry christmas, happy kwanzaa, happy hanukkah, happy bodhi day?, happy Saturnalia, happy winter solstice, happy yule, happy festivus, happy omisoka, happy shabe-yalda--
> 
> I'm really sleepy so I might've missed some there, but I love all of you and I hope you have a good december!


End file.
